Configurable Multi-Format Transceiver System

Abstract

A communication system includes a configurable transceiver that accommodates multi-band, multi-format signals by incorporating a duplex transceiver circuit, a simplex transceiver circuit and at least two switches. A first switch may be operated so as to configure the configurable transceiver to propagate duplex signals, such as for example, frequency division multiplexed (FDD) signals. The second switch may be operated so as to configure the simplex transceiver circuit to provide signal propagation of various types of signals in either a receive direction or a transmit direction. The various types of signals include time division multiplexed (TDD) signals.

1 . A configurable transceiver comprising:
 a duplex transceiver circuit, comprising:
 a first antenna operative over a first radio frequency band; 
 a first transmitter configured to operate upon a first transmit signal having a first communication format; and 
 a first receiver configured to operate upon a first receive signal having the first communication format; 
   a first switch operable to selectively couple the first antenna to the duplex transceiver circuit when the communication transceiver is configured to enable a duplex mode of operation, and to selectively decouple the first antenna from the duplex transceiver circuit when the communication transceiver is configured for disabling the duplex mode of operation;   a first simplex transceiver circuit, comprising:
 a second antenna operative over a second radio frequency band; 
 a second transmitter configured to operate upon a second transmit signal having a second communication format; and 
 a second receiver configured to operate upon a second receive signal having the second communication format; and 
   a second switch operable to selectively couple the second antenna to: a) the second transmitter, when the communication transceiver is configured to enable a transmit mode of operation in the second communication format, or b) the second receiver when the communication transceiver is selectively configured to enable a receive mode of operation in the second communication format.   
     
     
         2 . The transceiver of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an optical fiber;   an optical receiver device configured to receive from the optical fiber, the first transmit signal, and to couple the first transmit signal into the first transmitter; and   an optical transmitter device configured to receive from the first receiver, the first receive signal, and to couple the first receive signal into the optical fiber.   
     
     
         3 . The transceiver of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 the optical receiver device configured to receive from the optical fiber, the second transmit signal, and to couple the second transmit signal into the second transmitter; and   the optical transmitter device configured to receive from the second receiver, the second receive signal, and to couple the second receive signal into the optical fiber.   
     
     
         4 . The transceiver of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 a second simplex transceiver circuit, comprising:
 a third antenna operative over a third radio frequency band; 
 a third transmitter configured to operate upon a third transmit signal having a third communication format; and 
 a third receiver configured to operate upon a third receive signal having the third communication format; and 
   a third switch operable to selectively couple the third antenna to: a) the third transmitter, when the communication transceiver is configured to enable a transmit mode of operation in the third communication format, or b) the third receiver when the communication transceiver is selectively configured to enable a receive mode of operation in the third communication format.   
     
     
         5 . The transceiver of  claim 4 , wherein the first communication format is a Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) format, and at least one of the second or third communication formats is a Time Division Duplex (TDD) format. 
     
     
         6 . The transceiver of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 the optical receiver device configured to receive from the optical fiber, the third transmit signal, and to couple the third transmit signal into the third transmitter; and   the optical transmitter device configured to receive from the third receiver, the third receive signal, and to couple the third receive signal into the optical fiber.   
     
     
         7 . The transceiver of  claim 5 , wherein the first communication format is in accordance with the 4G cellular phone mobile communications standard, the second communication format is in accordance with the 3G cellular phone mobile communications standard, and the third communication format is in accordance with a 60 GHz Wireless Gigabit standard. 
     
     
         8 . The transceiver of  claim 5 , wherein the 4G cellular phone mobile communications standard is at least one of the mobile WiMax standard or the Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard. 
     
     
         9 . The transceiver of  claim 5 , wherein the optical fiber is a multimode optical fiber, the optical receiver device comprises a photo-detector diode, and the optical transmitter device comprises a light emitting diode. 
     
     
         10 . The transceiver of  claim 5 , wherein the optical fiber is a single mode optical fiber, and the optical transmitter device comprises a laser diode. 
     
     
         11 . The transceiver of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 a switch control circuit for controlling the first, second and third switches.   
     
     
         12 . A method of operating a configurable transceiver, the method comprising:
 enabling a duplex mode of operation by activating a first switch to couple a first antenna to a duplex transceiver circuit, the duplex transceiver circuit comprising:
 a first transmitter configured to operate upon a first transmit signal having a first communication format; and 
 a first receiver configured to operate upon a first receive signal having the first communication format; and 
   enabling a first simplex mode of operation by activating a second switch to couple a second antenna into one of a) a second transmitter that is configured to operate upon a second transmit signal having a second communication format or b) a second receiver that is configured to operate upon a second receive signal having the second communication format.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 disabling the duplex mode of operation by activating the first switch to decouple the first antenna from the duplex transceiver circuit.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein enabling the first simplex mode of operation comprises providing a first control signal to the second switch, the first control signal characterized by a first Time Division Duplex (TDD) format. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 enabling a second simplex mode of operation by activating a third switch to couple a third antenna into one of a) a third transmitter that is configured to operate upon a third transmit signal having a third communication format or b) a third receiver that is configured to operate upon a third receive signal having the third communication format.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein enabling the second simplex mode of operation comprises providing a second control signal to the third switch, the second control signal characterized by a second Time Division Duplex (TDD) format. 
     
     
         17 . A configurable transceiver comprising:
 a duplex transceiver circuit, comprising:
 a first antenna operative over a first radio frequency band; 
 a first transmitter configured to operate upon a first transmit signal occupying at least a portion of the first radio frequency band; and 
 a first receiver configured to operate upon a first receive signal occupying the at least a portion of the first radio frequency band; 
   a first switch operable to selectively couple the first antenna to the duplex transceiver circuit when the communication transceiver is configured to enable a duplex mode of operation, and to selectively decouple the first antenna from the duplex transceiver circuit when the communication transceiver is configured for disabling the duplex mode of operation; and   a first simplex transceiver circuit, comprising:
 a second antenna operative over a second radio frequency band; 
 a second transmitter configured to operate upon a second transmit signal occupying at least a portion of the second radio frequency band; and 
 a second receiver configured to operate upon a second receive signal occupying the at least a portion of the second radio frequency band; and 
   a second switch operable to selectively couple the second antenna to one of a) the second transmitter, or b) the second receiver.   
     
     
         18 . The transceiver of  claim 17 , wherein the first transmit signal has a first communication format, the first receive signal has the first communication format, the second transmit signal has a second communication format, and the second receive signal has the second communication format. 
     
     
         19 . The transceiver of  claim 18 , wherein the first communication format is a Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) format, and the second communication format is a Time Division Duplex (TDD) format. 
     
     
         20 . The transceiver of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 a second simplex transceiver circuit, comprising:
 a third antenna operative over a third radio frequency band; 
 a third transmitter configured to operate upon a third transmit signal occupying at least a portion of the third radio frequency band; and 
 a third receiver configured to operate upon a third receive signal occupying the at least a portion of the third radio frequency band; and 
   a third switch operable to selectively couple the third antenna to one of a) the third transmitter, or b) the third receiver.